He also named the islands still known as Santa Catalina and San
Clemente. He next sailed through and named the Canal de Santa Barbara,
which saint's day, December 4th, was observed while in the channel, and
also named Isla de Santa Barbara and Isla de San Nicolas. Passing Punta
de la Concepcion, which he named[5], Vizcaino sailed up the coast in a
thick fog, which lifting on December 14th, revealed to the voyagers the
lofty coast range usually sighted by the ships coming from the
Philippines. Four leagues beyond they saw a river flowing from high
hills through a beautiful valley to the sea. To the mountains he gave
the name of Sierra de la Santa Lucia, in honor of the Saint whose day
(December 13th) they had just celebrated, and the stream he named Rio
del Carmelo, in honor of the Carmelite friars. Rounding a high wooded
point, which he named Punta de los Pinos, he dropped anchor in Monterey
bay, December 16th, 1602. Here Vizcaino found the much desired harbor of
refuge, and he named it for his patron, the Conde de Monterey. Vizcaino
made the most of his discovery, and in a letter to the king, written in
Monterey Bay, December 28, 1602[6], he gives a most glowing description
of the bay, which is, at best, but an open roadstead.
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